James 2

Beware of Personal Favoritism

2My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^athe Lord of glory, with ^bpartiality. ²For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in ¹fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in ²filthy clothes, ³and you ³pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” ⁴have you not ⁴shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my beloved brethren: ^cHas God not chosen the poor of this world to be ^drich in faith and heirs of the kingdom ^ewhich He promised to those who love Him? ⁶But ^fyou have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you ^gand drag you into the courts? ⁷Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are ^hcalled?

⁸If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ⁱ“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; ⁹but if you ⁵show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as ^jtransgressors. ¹⁰For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet ^kstumble in one point, ^lhe is guilty of all. ¹¹For He who said, ^m“Do not commit adultery,” also said, ⁿ“Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹²So speak and so do as those who will be judged by ^othe law of liberty. ¹³For ^pjudgment is without mercy to the one who has shown ^qno ^rmercy. ^sMercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith Without Works is Dead

^14tWhat does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ^15uIf a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶and ^vone of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” ^wShow me your faith without ⁶your works, ^xand I will show you my faith by ⁷my works. ¹⁹You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! ²⁰But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is ⁸dead? ²¹Was not Abraham our father justified by works ^ywhen he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²²Do you see ^zthat faith was working together with his works, and by ^aworks faith was made ⁹perfect? ²³And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ^b“Abraham believed God, and it was ¹accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called ^cthe friend of God. ²⁴You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

²⁵Likewise, ^dwas not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

²⁶For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.